You can chalk this up as one more of many methods to combat phishing scams and protecting yourself from fraud. It’s the PayPal Security Key and it will be available in early 2007.

This key generates a unique random six digit number every 30 seconds, and the number will be used as an additional step in accessing your account. So even if a scammer does have your username and password, they need the six digit number too, which the most likely won’t have.

The key is free to PayPal Business Account holders, and $5 for other accounts (well worth it too!). PayPal Security Key site